Machine for assembling sheet material



ct. 4, W49. E. E. MAGEE MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING SHEET MATERIAL Filed'April 16, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet l Get 4, 1949.. E, E, MAGEE 2,4833%? MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING SHEET MATERIAL Em: '{M c? 0: 4, 194 g, MAG E 2 4833 MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Apt-i116, 1947 v v 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 9 394%. E. E. MAGEE MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING SHEET MATERIAL Filed April 16. 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Oct. 4, 1949 MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING SHEET MATERIAL Earl E. Magee, Middleton, Mass, assignor to Morris Rosenthal and Earl E. Magee, copartners, doing business as Star Die and Supply Company, Lynn, Mass.

Application April 16, 1947, Serial No. 741,926

Claims. 1

This invention relates to machines for assembling sheet material, and particularly sheets which are adhesively joined to one another, as along their sides.

In the shoe industry, for instance, innersoles are frequently made from assembled sheets or strips of flexible material, A center strip of flexible material, such as pulp board, rubber, cork, or composition material, which will bend with the foot, is first provided, and its side edges are skivecl and then coated with adhesive. Then side strips of stiffer and tougher material, which will receive and hold nails, are provided, and one side edge is skived and coated with adhesive. At present, the side strips are now joined by hand along their skived and adhesively coated side edges, to the similarly treated sides of the center strip, and the joined edges pressed down by hand-making an assembled sheet, from which the innersoles are then out. The hand method of assembly is slow, inefficient, and unsatisfactory.

I have accordingly devised a machine for assembling such sheets or strips of material, whereby the sheets, with their edges previously prepared, are fed into the machine, brought into proper registration and alignment with each other, and passed through rollers which press down and cause the strips to adhere at their adjacent edges. By this means the assembling operation is greatly accelerated, the respective strips are more accurately aligned, the joining at the edges is much stronger and more satisfactory, and the cut innersole is a superior product.

Briefly my machine includes a frame, tracks extending longitudinally of the frame to receive the strips .of material to be assembled, an endless chain traversing the machine longitudinally thereof beneath the tracks and carrying fingers for picking up and advancing the strips along the tracks in uniform relation, and into the bight of a pair of presser rolls.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it 55 25 respectively. Angle iron 24a is formed on its gether along their adjacent sides.

2 is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art.

Other objects, and advantages of my machine will appear in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Fig, l is a plan view of my machine;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the right end of the machine as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation at the right of Figs. 1 and 2 Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the finger mechanism;

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the finger mechanism from the right of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on line TI-'I of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on .line 88 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 is a detailed view of one of strip guides; and

Fig. 10 is a cross-section of a strip of sheet material.

In the drawings ill represents the frame of the machine, which is generally rectangular in its outer dimensions, having legs II, sides l2, and cross-members I3. Extending longitudinally of the frame and mounted on cross-members I3 is a set of three pairs of tracks or guides I5, I6 and I! (left to right in Figs. '7 and 8) to receive the left, center, and right strips I5A, IGA and HA, respectively, which are to be attached to- Slots I3a are provided in cross-members I3 to permit sidewise adjustment and positioning of the tracks l5, I6 and I! (Fig. 1).

As shown more fully in Fig. 8, track I5 is formed by two angle irons I8a and b, (spaced apart to permit the travelling finger to pass between them), mounted on .rails I9 and 20 respectively in any suitable manner, as by bolts or welding, and each rail in turn is mounted on cross-members I3 by means of bolts 2| which pass through the slots I 3a provided in said crossmmbers I3. Guide flanges 22a and b forming side walls for track I5 and to guide the strips IEiA therein are mounted on angle irons I8a and b respectively, as by bolts 23.

Center track I6 is formed by what is in effect a pair of LJ=shaped angle irons 25a. and I) laid on their side with their open ends facing inwardly, and which are mounted on rails ,25! and bottom side by angle iron 24c and on its side and top by the vertical and top walls of angle iron [8b of track :5. Angle iron 26b is mounted on iron 240, in turn mounted on rail 25. It will be noted that track It is in a lower plane than track l5 and both tracks are arranged so that their adjacent sides overlap in a vertical plane, to permit strip 55A to overlap center strip I6A for attachment thereto.

Track i? in turn is formed by angle irons 28a and b, and which are mounted on rails 25 and 29, respectively. Angle iron 28a is formed by the right side wall and bottom plate of angle iron 24c of track Guide flanges 38a and b are also provided for track ll, flange 38a being mounted on angle iron 24b of track l5, and flange 3% being mounted on iron 281;. Track I? again is provided on a lower plane than track I5, and both tracks are again arranged so that their sides overlap in a vertical plane, to permit center strip ISA to overlap right strip HA for attachment thereto. The plane positions and widths of the respective tracks l5, l6 and i's' are of course adjustable and variable, depending upon how the strips are'desired to be attached to one another, and the Width of the strips, and the like.

Mounted on the frame it and beneath the tracks l5, l5 and ii, a pair of endless chains 35 are provided, running on sprockets that, b, and c, to which are attached at spaced intervals, and as to be carried by said chains 35, a plurality of horizontal registration bars 38 extending across the machine. Each bar 33 carries three vertical fingers dd, one of which travels along each track it, H5 or H, between the side walls thereof, and their function is to advance the respective strips of material SEA, 16A and Il'A along the respective tracks l5, l5 and i1, evenly and abreast of each other and in parallel relation, so that they will be in re istration along their front edges when passing through the rollers. As will be seen more particularly in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, bars 38 are mounted on chains 35 and carry a vertical flange 39, which is slotted as at All, to which the bases d2 of fingers lii are adjustably mounted laterally as by means of bolts es. Bases 42 are divided into lower and upper sections 42a and 32b and are pivotally mounted with respect to each other on pivot 652e, and are tensioned forwardly by means of coil spring 45 on said pivot 320, the forward movement being stopped by vertical screw 45. Thus fingers 4d are yieldingly supported for backward movement, if obstructions to the free forward movement of the strips are met.

At the back end of the machine a pair of presser rollers 5i and 5! are mounted, to which the strips 85A, 5 5A and HA are carried by fingers 413, being guided to the bight thereof by funnel guide 52 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4). The pressure exerted by the rollers 59 and 5i is adjusted by means of the coil springs 53 controlled by screws 54 and smaller springs 55 between the rolls (Figs. 3 and 4). Upper roll 58) receives its drive from lower roll 5| through gears 58a and 51a (Fig. 3).

Power for driving the machine is obtained from electric motor 6%, from the shaft 6! of which the power is transmitted to sprocket gear 82, thence by chain drive 63 to gear 84, thence by suitable reduction gearing to shaft 55, to sprocket wheel 65, through chain er to sprocket til and shaft 69, which at one end carries the two sprocket wheels 9 and ll. Wheel it through chain l2 then drives sprocket wheel 73, mounted on shaft 51b of lower presser roll 5!, and upper roll 58 re ceives its drive from lower roll 5! through end gears 56a and 5m (Fig. 3). At the same time wheel "I I, through chain 15 drives sprocket wheel 16 mounted on shaft 11, which in turn at the opposite ends thereof carries a pair of sprockets 350, which drive chains 35, and supporting sprockets 38?) and 0, thus furnishing the drive for bars 33 carrying fingers 4%. Suitable switches 88 are attached to the machine connected to the electric motor 60 for starting and stopping the machine.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The strips of material I5A, ISA and HA, whose adjacent edges have been skived and precoated with adhesive, are placed in their respective tracks I 5, I 6, and Il, by the operators, or from a mechanical feeding device, and in the manner in which they are to be joined in final form in the assembled strip. The strips are then picked up by the fingers 4i], and carried by them along the machine and in their respective tracks, where they are delivered simultaneously and abreast of each other, and with adjacent sides overlapping, into the funnel guide 52, and thence between rolls 5% and 5!, where the strips are pressed together along their adhesively-coated edges, to form one composite strip, as shown in Fig. 10. It will be understood, of course, that more or less than three strips can be assembled and joined in this manner, in varying widths, and in diiferent arrangements of overlying strips, by re-arrangement of the tracks, their planes, and widths. A second set of presser rolls may be provided, if desired, to give an additional or varying pressure on the strips.

I claim:

1. A machine for assembling sheet material, comprising a frame, tracks'extending longitudinally of said frame for receiving and guiding strips of material to be assembled, said strips having adhesively coated adjacent edges, an endless chain mechanism traversing the machine longitudinally thereof beneath said tracks, fingers carried by said chain mechanism for advancing the strips along the tracks, and a pair of presser rolls for receiving said strips from the tracks and pressing them together along the adjacent edges.

2. A machine for assembling sheet material, comprising a frame, a plurality of tracks extending longitudinally of said frame for receiving and guiding strips of material to be assembled in pro-determined relation, said strips being adhesively coated along their adjacent edges en endless chain mechanism traversing the machine longitudinally thereof beneath the tracks, a series of parallel fingers carried by said chain mechanism, for advancing the strips along the tracks in parallel relation to one another, and a pair of presser rolls for receiving said strips and pressing them together along their adjacent adhesively coated edges.

3. A machine for assembling sheet material, comprising a frame, a plurality of tracks extending longitudinally of said frame for receiving and guiding strips of material to be assembled, said strips having adhesively coated edges, and said tracks being arranged in two or more planes and in overlapping relation to permit said strips to be attached to one another along their adjacent edges, an endless chain mechanism traversing the machine longitudinally beneath the tracks, a series of parallel ,ers carried by said chain mechanism for advancing the strips along the tracks in parallel relation to one another, and a pair of presser rolls for receiving said strips and pressing them together along their adjacent adhesively coated edges.

4. A machine for assembling sheet material, comprising a frame, a plurality of tracks extending longitudinally of said frame for receiving and guiding strips of material to be assembled, said strips having adhesively coated edges, and said tracks being arranged in two or more planes and in overlapping relation to permit said strips to be attached to one another along their adjacent edges, an endless chain mechanism traversing the machine longitudinally beneath the tracks, a series of parallel fingers carried by said chain mechanism for advancing the strips along the tracks in parallel relation to one another, and a pair of presser rolls for receiving said strips and pressing them together along their adjacent adhesively coated edges, and a guide for guiding said strips into the bite of said presser rolls.

5. A machine for assembling sheet material, comprising a frame, a plurality of tracks extending longitudinally of said frame for receiving and guiding strips of material to be assembled, said strips having adhesively coated edges, and said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,841,539 Kleinschmit Jan. 19, 1932 1,912,527 Kleinschmit June 6, 1933 1,916,134 Dike June 27, 1933 2,024,932 Kushera Dec. 17, 1935 2,217,306 Burrill Oct. 8, 1940 

